Chapter 10
VOTING AND ELECTIONS
Elections and Democracy
Democratic control
Elections are essential for democratic politics.
Elections are the principal means by which
popular sovereignty and majority rule are
supposed to work.
Can elections ensure that governments will do
what the people want?
Three theories of ways in which two-party elections
of representatives could or should lead to democratic
control of government
Responsible party government — based on the idea of
elections providing a real choice, or alternative
Electoral competition — both parties should compete
for votes by taking the most popular positions that they
can
Electoral reward and punishment (also called
retrospective voting) — people vote for the incumbents
when times are good and against them when times are bad
Imperfect electoral democracy
Each of these three processes of democratic
control works to some extent.
None of them works well enough to guarantee
perfectly democratic outcomes.
All three acting together also cannot ensure
democracy.
Political Participation
Political participation refers to political
activity by individual citizens.
Unconventional participation — includes
activities such as demonstrations and boycotts
Conventional participation — includes activities
such as voting, writing letters, contacting
officials, giving money
Expansion of the franchise
The franchise was quite restricted in the early
years of the United States.
The expansion of the right to vote has been one
of the most important developments in the
political history of the United States.
Direct partisan elections
The vanishing electorate
Suffrage expanded to more groups during the first
century of American history, and larger and larger
proportions voted.
Voter turnout rate in the U.S. is very low
compared with other modern industrialized
countries.
The ideal of political equality is violated by low
rates of voter turnout.
Barriers to Voting
Causes of low voter turnout
Registration
Lack of attractive choices
Changes in eligibility rules
Alienation and apathy about politics that many Americans
felt after the 1960s
Lack of voter mobilization by political parties and the
failure of both parties to register low-income citizens
Campaigning Involvement
Despite low voter turnout levels, Americans
are more likely than people in other countries
to participate actively in campaigns.
Areas of involvement
Contact officials
Give money
Attend meetings
Attend political rallies
Work actively in a campaign organization
Who Participates?
Characteristics of voters and nonvoters
There is class bias in voting and other forms of
political participation.
Some statistical analyses indicate that the crucial
factor in voter turnout is the level of formal
education.
Income level may be more important than
education in affecting who actually votes.
Does It Matter Who Votes?
 Two contrasting points of view
The rate of participation is unimportant because the
preferences of those who vote are similar to those who
do not vote.
A low voter turnout rate may be a positive factor since
more educated people vote.
Nonvoters are clearly different from voters.
How participation can make a change
Broader participation would increase popular
sovereignty and political equality.
Campaigning for Office
Contending for a presidential nomination
Characteristics of nominees — who has a
chance?
Getting started
Primaries and caucuses
Momentum
How to win — factors that affect candidates’
success in gaining delegate support
National conventions
Nomination Politics and
Democracy
Incumbents
The autumn campaign
The fall campaign traditionally began on Labor Day, but
now tends to start right after the conventions or earlier.
Campaign organizations set up in each state
Intense money raising, combined with a new round of
public financing
Media blitz
Focus groups
Voter registration and voter turnout campaigns
Informing voters
Money and Elections
Presidential campaigns cost enormous amounts of
money.
The cost has increased rapidly over time.
Campaign spending may not look so big when
compared with corporate advertising.
The source of campaign money is far more
problematic for democracy than the cost of
presidential elections.
Where does the money come from?
Does money talk?
How Voters Decide
The way in which people make their voting
decisions affects how elections contribute to
democratic control of government.
Parties, candidates, and issues all have
substantial effects on how people vote.
Social characteristics and party loyalties
Candidates
Issues
The Electoral College
When voting for president, American voters are
actually voting for a slate of electors who have
promised to support the candidate.
Almost all states now have winner-take-all systems.
For most practical purposes, the electoral college
system works in much the same way as if Americans
chose their presidents by direct popular vote.
Consequences of the electoral college system
Do Elections Matter?
In terms of the responsible party government
theory...
Republicans tend to be more conservative than
Democrats on a number of economic and social
issues.
This provides voters with a measure of
democratic control by enabling them to detect
differences and make choices.
Voters exercise control in the electoral competition
theory by either reelecting successful incumbents or
defeating unsuccessful officeholders.
Elections force parties to compete by nominating
centrist candidates and by taking similar popular
positions.
U.S. elections help make the public’s voice heard,
but political equality is damaged by providing more
political influence to some types of people than to
others.